Laptop running real slow

Hi guys would appreciate some advice please.
I have a DELL Latitude CPi laptop with Win ME on. Recently it has started to run slower and slower. Usually you can get an hour before you need to reboot and then it's fine for another hour.
I've stripped out everything so there's nouneccessary programmes running as far as I'm aware.
I can't even run a defrag as it hangs up after an hour. When I tried to run scan disk I got the message that it had restarted 10 times as another programme was writing to the disk even though nothing was running as far as I was aware!
I've scanned for Malware etc but scans come out clean.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Many thanks

 

You apparently have something running in the background. have you tried Start>Run>msconfig>startup to see what you have running in the background...if not try that and post back with what is in that startup list...you will probably be able to eliminate a lot of stuff!!

Roger

 

Hi Roger,
There's a whole bunch of stuff in there!
MSMSGS
ScanRegistry
TaskMonitor
PCHealth
IrMon
SystemTray
LoadPowerProfile...twice!
SchedulingAgent
*StateMgr
RNBOStart
WinzipQuickPick
Office startup
Microsoft FindFast
Microsoft Office shortcut Bar
Netgear
Instant Wireless Configuration Utility
Some I recognise but had no idea all this was going on.
Which ones would you advise I get rid of?
I'm scared I'll delete something that's needed!
Thanks

 

Thanks for the advice.
I ran a search for services.msc and got no results
Should I be really worried?

 

Not sure but you could try another Defrag app to start with. This is Diskeeper Lite the same as the onboard defrag app but a later version and it has a lot more efficient "engine". I went from 5-6 hour defrags to 5-6 minutes quite literally. Something you may not be aware off is you need at least 15% of free HDD space for the normal defrag to work, so it can shuffle files around. Maybe your HDD is full and bloated.

Have you ran CCleaner?

Tried a Reg Cleaner?

This is a link to the cleaning out of spyware and crap from your system hosted on this site and I highly recommend you follow this firstly:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

DK Lite:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207

RegCleaner:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/RegCleaner_d460.html

This above app will allow you to make a backup off any changes I highly recommend this in case anything goes pear shaped.

Also a list of this sites best freeware picks:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

 

MSMSGS
If you don't use Windows Messenger, this can be annoying. Available via Start -> Programs. Go to Windows Messenger > Tools > Options > Preferences and uncheck "Run this program when Windows starts"

ScanRegistry
Scans the system registry and makes back-ups at start-up. Important should the registry become corrupt. The executable "Scanregw.exe" is located in %windir% (where %windir% is the Windows directory - C:\Windows or C:\Winnt)

If Scanregw.exe is not where the above statement says, then that is an indication of malware on your system. If it is where it should be...then uncheck it if you want, it is to your discretion.


TaskMonitor
The Task Monitor checks the disk-access patterns of programs when they are started and stores this information in log files in the Applog folder. Task Monitor also records the number of times you use a program. The Disk Defragmenter tool uses this information to optimize your hard disk so that programs that you use frequently are loaded faster. Not required - but can be useful. Note: for Norton Anti-Virus 2002 users, loading TaskMonitor will typically solve many, if not most, of those annoying IE scripting errors (per Symantec's Knowledgebase)

Again...TaskMonitor is to your discretion.

PCHealth
Uncheck this.

IrMon
System Tray access to infra-red devices. Not required unless you use infra-red devices.

This one is also to your discretion. I don't use IR devices, but I would assume this is so you can use the IR on demand, as opposed to having to manually start/access the IR utility/program.

SystemTray
SYSTRAY.EXE - System Tray Services. Provides the Volume Control, PC Card Status, Power Management and other icons that reside in the System Tray (see here). SYSTRAY.EXE may be disabled if none of these services are required. It will launch as and when required if you later enable the icons. If you need these items they're available via Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.

Again...to your discretion

LoadPowerProfile
Being that you have this twice...it gives me another indication that you might have malware on your system!! Check out this link, and read the details as to how to tell if it is legitimate or not!! If I am confusing or overwhelming you, then feel free to ask more questions!!

Assuming that it/they are not malware and they are legitimate...then you can uncheck it.

SchedulingAgent
MS Scheduling Agent displayed as a box with a stopwatch in the System Tray that is only needed if you have regular scheduled disk defragmenting, ScanDisk, etc. Required if you have regularily scheduled events such as weekly virus scans

To your discretion.

*StateMgr
Windows ME default for System Restore. Do NOT disable!

RNBOStart
Program used to initialise the VxD virtual driver for Sentinel drivers associated with Rainbow H/W keys that plug-in to the parallel port. These are usually supplied with workplace design tools and restrict the use of the software only to the machine to which the H/W key is connected. Required if you have such tools.

Again...to your discretion.

WinzipQuickPick
You can uncheck this one.

Office startup
Application which launches common MS Office components to help speed up the launch of Office programs. It's somewhat of a resource hog, and some users claim there's no difference with or without it but it usually isn't required. Note - if you make use of the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar outside an office program this application will need to be enabled for it to show

Your choice.

Microsoft FindFast
Uncheck this one.

Microsoft Office shortcut Bar
Application which launches common MS Office components to help speed up the launch of Office programs. It's somewhat of a resource hog, and some users claim there's no difference with or without it but it usually isn't required. Note - if you make use of the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar outside an office program this application will need to be enabled for it to show.

Again...your choice

Netgear
This is probably related to what I'm assuming is your wireless connection to your router. It is probably connecting your computer automatically to the router when you boot up your system. you can do a trial and error on this one. Disable it if you want, and if the computer doesn't connect automatically when you boot up, then re-enable it by going back into msconfig and making sure it is checked. If you manually connect to your wireless connection anyway, then you will probably not notice a difference unless you use the icon in the system tray to enable your wireless connection.


Instant Wireless Configuration Utility
Utility used by the LINKSYS LINKSYS wireless USB Adapter (WUSB11) and indicates when a wireless access connection is made by a screen colour change. Also used for configuration.

What kind of hardware are you using for your wireless connection? I'm seeing two different brands of hardware. Is one the router and the other the wireless card. This is again something that you can do by trial and error. If you uncheck it and when you restart your wireless isn't working, then re-enable it.

So anyway...I was hoping that by providing you with explanations, that it would better help you understand what each one was and maybe give you a better idea as to whether you need it in the startup list or not. Some people do prefer to have some thing running in the memory because it provides faster access if it is something they are accessing all the time. I myself would rather have the extra memory spared and just go to the programs list to start a program, especially when you are only talking a couple of seconds difference. Personally..I myself would disable all of them, but you can read through it and decide your preferences. Just keep in mind, the more you disable...the quicker you system will start up and will also run more efficiently once it has started up.

Being that I have obviously pointed out a couple of things that arouse my suspicion to whether you have some malware running on your system, I would highly recommend you run through this tutorial...

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

It is lengthy, but it is VERY good and if you have any problems, then the guys over at the malware forum are scary smart and super friendly and can help you out.

Also...being that I do not see any instances of any Anti-Virus and Firewall software running...I also recommend you read this...

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=44525

It is very thorough, and very easy to understand!!!!

Let us know if you have any other questions/problems!!

Being that I'm multi tasking with this and making dinner and visiting with the wife...I might hav missed something, so let me know if something doesn't make sense, etc.!!

Roger

 

Thanks for the advice Roger. It was very helpful.
The only thing I didn't get was the link re LoadPowerProfile. I think you may have forgotten to put it in! That or I can't read! but then again it is nearly 2:30 am!!
I'm working my way through the Malware post. Been on that forum before so I know the guys over there are really good. (Have a boyfriend with very dodgy surfing habits who will not listen. Regularly infects his pc so I've been on for advice on more than one occasion. Cabbaged his own pc now and it looks like he's managed to mess my laptop up now too!)
That's my rant over now
I had Netgear adaptor but since the boyfriend has been using the laptop it won't work properly so I got the card.
Will uninstall to avoid any conflicts etc.
Thanks again for your help and enjoy your dinner!
Will check in to let you know how it goes before I inevitably end up in Malware forum again!
Cheers.

 

Yup...you're right...see I told you I don't multi-task well!!

Here is the link...

http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php?filter=LoadPowerProfile

Take a gander at each individual possible entry...and that will kind of give you a brief indication of whether or not it might be malware. The ones with the big X are considered malware, U is users choice, L is legitimate, and Y is yes it need to be there.

Keep us posted!!

Roger